沛齊 (PAYX) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's Paychex Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this call is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加今天的Paychex第三季財報電話會議。 （操作說明）請注意，本次電話會議正在錄音。

And it is now my pleasure to turn today's call over to President and Chief Executive Officer, John Gibson. Please go ahead.

現在我很高興將今天的電話會議交給總裁兼執行長約翰·吉布森先生。請開始吧。

Thank you, Mike. Thank you, everyone, for joining our discussion today on the Paychex third quarter fiscal year 2024 earnings release. Joining me today is Bob Schafer -- Schrader, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝邁克。感謝各位今天參加我們關於Paychex 2024財年第三季財報的討論。今天和我一起參加討論的是我們的財務長鮑伯·沙弗-施拉德。

This morning, before the market opened, we released our financial results for the third quarter. You can access our earnings release on our Investor Relations website. Our Form 10-Q will be filed with the SEC within the next day. This teleconference is being broadcast over the Internet and will be archived and available on our website for approximately 90 days.

今天上午，在市場開盤前，我們發布了第三季財務業績。您可以在我們的投資者關係網站上查看這份業績報告。我們的10-Q表格將於明天提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）。本次電話會議將透過網路直播，並將存檔於我們的網站上，保留約90天。

I'm going to start the call today with an update on the business highlights for the third quarter and then turn it over to Bob for a financial update. And then, of course, we'll be happy to take your questions.

今天我將先報告第三季的業務亮點，然後交給鮑伯做財務方面的報告。當然，之後我們很樂意回答各位的問題。

We delivered solid results in the third quarter and the first 9 months of the current fiscal year. Total revenue growth of 4% in the third quarter reflected a lower contribution for our Employee Retention Tax Credit, or ERTC service, as compared with the prior year period. This is consistent with our previously communicated expectations that ERTC revenue would become a headwind in the second half of the current fiscal year. Excluding this impact, our total revenue growth accelerated to 7% in the quarter.

在本財年第三季及前九個月，我們取得了穩健的表現。第三季總營收成長4%，主要原因是員工留任稅收抵免（ERTC）服務的營收貢獻較上年同期下降。這與我們先前預期一致，即ERTC營收將在本財年下半年成為成長的阻力。剔除此影響後，本季總營收成長加快至7%。

While our new client volumes remained solid and in line, and both client and revenue retentions were in line with our expectations, several factors, including our decision to wind down the ERTC program based upon the recent legislative developments on Capitol Hill, continued moderation of employment growth within our client bases and slightly lower realized rates, all combined to create headwind -- a larger headwind than what we had anticipated in the quarter.

雖然我們的新客戶數量保持穩定且符合預期，客戶和收入留存率也符合我們的預期，但包括我們根據國會山最近的立法發展決定逐步停止 ERTC 計劃、客戶群就業增長持續放緩以及實際利率略有下降在內的幾個因素，共同造成了不利影響——比我們本季度預期的不利影響更大。

With the end of the ERTC program, we are now officially in the post-pandemic era at Paychex. And I will tell you, I am very pleased with how our teams have performed during these past several years. We put nearly $90 billion of financial aid into the hands of our clients. And based upon an analysis by MIT, we estimate that we saved over 300,000 small business jobs.

隨著ERTC計畫的結束，Paychex正式邁入後疫情時代。我必須說，我對我們團隊過去幾年的表現非常滿意。我們向客戶發放了近900億美元的財政援助。根據麻省理工學院的分析，我們估計我們挽救了超過30萬個小型企業的工作。

While these pandemic era programs are not part of our normal reoccurring revenue product strategy or our business model at Paychex, they were certainly consistent with our purpose, and that's simply to help businesses succeed. And I believe that we are a better company today than when we entered the pandemic 4 years ago.

雖然這些疫情期間推出的項目並非Paychex常規經常性收入產品策略或商業模式的一部分，但它們與我們的宗旨完全一致，那就是幫助企業取得成功。而且我相信，與四年前疫情爆發之初相比，如今的我們是一家更優秀的公司。

We are winning in the marketplace, and our long proven recurring revenue growth formula still holds true in this post-pandemic and digitally driven era for the company. Focused client growth, value-based price realization, increased product penetration and opportunistic acquisitions are still the key pillars of the Paychex growth strategy.

我們在市場競爭中佔優勢，公司長期以來行之有效的經常性收入成長模式在後疫情時代和數位時代依然適用。專注於客戶成長、基於價值的定價策略、提高產品滲透率以及把握收購機遇，仍然是Paychex成長策略的關鍵支柱。

We are exiting the pandemic era with an even greater focus on our purpose, more opportunities to impact our clients and their employees and with an even stronger reputation as a trusted adviser to small and midsized business owners.

疫情過後，我們將更加專注於我們的目標，擁有更多機會影響我們的客戶及其員工，並作為中小企業主值得信賴的顧問，享有更強大的聲譽。

Despite the headwinds in the quarter, we delivered 7% growth in diluted earnings per share and expanded operating margins due to our longstanding tradition of expense discipline. As one of the best operators in the business, we continued to demonstrate our ability to deliver on earnings in uncertain times and still make the necessary strategic investments to drive long-term profitable growth.

儘管本季面臨諸多不利因素，但由於我們長期以來堅持嚴格的成本控制，稀釋後每股盈餘仍成長了7%，營業利潤率也得以提升。作為業界領先的營運商之一，我們持續展現了在充滿不確定性的時期實現盈利的能力，並堅持進行必要的戰略投資，以推動長期盈利增長。

Our culture of expense management along with investments we've made the past several years in digitization and enhanced sales and operational excellence capabilities have positioned us well for future profitable growth as well.

過去幾年，我們在數位化、提升銷售和卓越營運能力方面投入巨資，加上我們注重費用管理，這些都為我們未來的獲利成長奠定了良好的基礎。

The macroeconomic and labor market remains challenging for small and midsized businesses. A tight job market for qualified workers, reduced access to affordable growth capital and inflationary pressures continue to be headwinds for small businesses. Our small business employment watch continues to show moderation in both job growth and wage inflation but, however, a relatively stable macro environment.

宏觀經濟和勞動市場對中小企業而言仍充滿挑戰。合格勞動力短缺、取得低成本成長資金的管道減少以及通膨壓力，持續對小型企業造成不利影響。我們的小型企業就業觀察顯示，就業成長和薪資通膨均放緩，但宏觀經濟環境相對穩定。

The softening in hiring we started to see in the second quarter continued in the third quarter. There is more choppiness in hiring across all customer segments and industries now. Our clients tell us they still can't find qualified employees and are not willing to hire just anyone at higher wage rates, especially in areas with recent minimum wage increases and aggressive legislative changes.

第二季開始出現的招募疲軟趨勢在第三季仍在持續。目前，所有客戶群和行業的招募都更加不穩定。我們的客戶告訴我們，他們仍然找不到合格的員工，也不願意為了更高的工資而隨意招聘，尤其是在近期最低工資上漲和立法政策大幅調整的地區。

The demand for our HR technology and advisory solutions remains robust, and the volumes of new clients added in the quarter were strong. We continued to deliver value for our customers as seen on our revenue retention results, which remain above pre-pandemic levels.

市場對我們人力資源技術和諮詢解決方案的需求依然強勁，本季新增客戶數量也十分可觀。正如我們的收入留存率所示，我們持續為客戶創造價值，目前該指標仍高於疫情前水準。

Client retention for the third quarter was also in line with pre-pandemic levels. And both revenue and HR outsourcing worksite employee retention remained at record levels as we continue to focus our resources on acquiring and retaining high-value clients. Our sustained high revenue retention demonstrates that our value proposition and our market leadership remain intact. The fundamentals of Paychex are sound.

第三季客戶留存率與疫情前水準持平。由於我們持續專注於獲取和留住高價值客戶，因此收入和人力資源外包工作場所員工留存率均維持在歷史最高水準。持續的高收入留存率表明，我們的價值主張和市場領導地位仍然穩固。 Paychex 的基本面穩健。

I'd like to highlight the success in our PEO business specifically, which has continued to gain momentum with strong results during the first 9 months of the fiscal year. We finished the quarter with strong results in sales, retention and insurance enrollment. We have continued to see a shift back towards the PEO offering, both outside and inside our client base. This shift mix has a long-term positive impact on the customer lifetime value on our model, particularly as clients attach insurance benefits.

我想特別強調我們PEO業務的成功，該業務在本財年的前九個月持續保持強勁增長勢頭，業績斐然。本季我們在銷售額、客戶留存率和保險註冊方面均取得了優異成績。我們持續看到客戶群（包括現有客戶和外部客戶）重新轉向PEO服務。這種轉變將對我們模式下的客戶終身價值產生長期正面影響，尤其是在客戶附加保險福利的情況下。

AI and related technology investments are also key areas of focus in our industry and something that, as many of you know, we've been focused on for many years. We are proud to announce that we successfully implemented in the quarter several additional innovative AI models that significantly improved results for Paychex and our clients. Leveraging innovative technology and advanced analytics has allowed us to gain deeper insights into prospects and client behavior, their preferences and their growing needs.

人工智慧及相關技術投資也是我們行業的重點領域，正如許多人所知，我們多年來一直致力於此。我們很自豪地宣布，本季我們成功部署了多項創新人工智慧模型，大幅提升了Paychex及其客戶的表現。透過運用創新技術和先進的分析方法，我們能夠更深入地了解潛在客戶和現有客戶的行為、偏好以及不斷增長的需求。

Last month, we announced that Beaumont Vance has joined the company as our Senior Vice President of Data Analytics and AI. In this newly created role, he will be responsible for refining and executing the company's data strategy, including the use of business intelligence, advanced analytics and AI-driven automation to drive both improved business performance and enhance customer value. We are excited to have Beaumont on board to help us capture the full value of our vast data assets.

上個月，我們宣布博蒙特·萬斯(Beaumont Vance)加入公司，擔任數據分析與人工智慧高級副總裁。在這個新設立的職位上，他將負責完善和執行公司的數據策略，包括運用商業智慧、高階分析和人工智慧驅動的自動化技術，以提升業務績效並增強客戶價值。我們非常高興博蒙特的加入，相信他能幫助我們充分挖掘大量資料資產的價值。

I want to thank -- thanks to the hard work of our more than 16,000 employees and their focus on our company's values. Paychex continues to be recognized for both what we do and, more importantly, in my opinion, how we do it. We are proud to be recognized for the 16th time by Ethisphere as one of the world's Most Ethical Companies in their recent annual list. Paychex was also recently recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the Most Innovative Companies for the second consecutive year.

我要感謝我們超過16,000名員工的辛勤付出，以及他們對公司價值觀的堅持。 Paychex之所以能夠持續獲得認可，不僅是因為我們所做的工作，更重要的是，在我看來，因為我們做事的方式。我們很榮幸在Ethisphere最近的年度榜單中第16次被評為全球最具商業道德企業之一。此外，Paychex也連續第二年被《財星》雜誌評為最具創新力公司之一。

These recognitions and the many product and service awards that we have received in the past year and over the decades is a testament to the strength of our business model, culture and the commitment to invest in our business and our employees to deliver long-term value for our customers and investors.

在過去一年以及過去幾十年裡，我們獲得的這些認可和眾多產品和服務獎項，證明了我們商業模式、企業文化以及我們致力於投資業務和員工，為客戶和投資者創造長期價值的承諾的強大實力。

I'm very proud of how our employees have delivered for our customers, for each other, for our communities and for our shareholders throughout the pandemic era. We exit the -- this period in Paychex's history more focused and determined to be the digital -- digitally driven HR leader in our industry, and we are even better positioned to capture the opportunities in the markets we serve.

我為我們的員工在疫情期間為客戶、彼此、社區和股東所做的貢獻感到非常自豪。我們走出這段時期，Paychex 將更加專注於成為業內數位化驅動的人力資源領導者，並且我們更有能力把握我們所服務市場中的機會。

I'll now turn it over to Bob to give you a brief update on our financial results for the quarter.

現在我將把發言權交給鮑勃，讓他簡要介紹一下我們本季的財務表現。

Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to start by reminding everyone that today's commentary will contain certain forward-looking statements that refer to future events and, therefore, involve some risks. In addition, I will periodically refer to some non-GAAP measures, like adjusted diluted earnings per share. I'd refer you to our press release for our customary disclosures around those metrics.

謝謝約翰，大家早安。首先我想提醒大家，今天的評論將包含一些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述涉及未來事件，因此存在一定的風險。此外，我也會不時提及一些非GAAP指標，例如調整後的稀釋每股盈餘。關於這些指標的慣例披露，請參閱我們的新聞稿。

I'll start with a summary of our third quarter and year-to-date financial results and then provide an update on our fiscal '24 outlook. And as promised to many of you on the phone, I will share some preliminary thoughts around fiscal '25.

我將首先概述我們第三季和年初至今的財務業績，然後更新我們對2024財年的展望。正如我在電話中向許多人承諾的那樣，我還會分享一些關於2025財年的初步想法。

Total revenue for the quarter increased 4% to $1.4 billion, which reflects a lower contribution from our ERTC as compared to the prior year quarter. Management Solutions revenue increased 2% to $1 billion. This was primarily driven by growth in the number of clients served across our suite of HCM solutions and increased product penetration, and that was offset by the decline in our ERTC revenue. And as we disclosed in the press release, that was impacted -- impacted the growth by about 300 basis points.

本季總營收成長4%至14億美元，反映出與去年同期相比，ERTC業務的貢獻有所下降。管理解決方案收入成長2%至10億美元。這主要得益於我們HCM解決方案套件的客戶數量成長和產品滲透率提高，但被ERTC業務收入的下降所抵消。正如我們在新聞稿中所揭露的那樣，ERTC業務收入的下降對整體成長造成了約300個基點的影響。

PEO and Insurance Solutions revenue increased 8% to $346 million, that was driven by higher average worksite employees and an increase in our PEO and Insurance revenues. Our PEO saw continued momentum in worksite employee growth and medical plan participant volumes during the third quarter.

PEO和保險解決方案收入成長8%至3.46億美元，主要得益於平均工作場所員工人數增加以及PEO和保險業務收入的成長。第三季度，我們的PEO業務在工作場所員工人數成長和醫療計畫參與人數方面持續保持成長勢頭。

Interest on funds held for clients increased 25% to $44 million, primarily due to higher average interest rates.

由於平均利率上升，為客戶持有的資金利息增加了 25%，達到 4,400 萬美元。

Total expenses increased 3% to $790 million. Expense growth was attributable to higher compensation costs and PEO direct insurance costs related to the higher average worksite employees as well as the higher Insurance revenues during the quarter.

總支出增加3%至7.9億美元。支出成長主要歸因於更高的薪酬成本和與工作場所平均員工人數增加相關的PEO直接保險成本，以及本季更高的保險收入。

Operating income increased 6% to $650 million with an operating margin for the quarter of 45.1%. That represents about 80 basis points of margin expansion over the prior year period. I would like to highlight that is -- that margin expansion is despite the ERTC headwind that we just called out. We were still able to deliver really strong margin expansion in the quarter. And I think as many of you know, ERTC is pretty much like interest rates. It's pretty much all margin.

本季營業收入成長6%至6.5億美元，營業利益率為45.1%。這比去年同期成長了約80個基點。我想強調的是，儘管我們剛才提到了員工留任稅收抵免（ERTC）帶來的不利影響，我們仍然實現了利潤率的強勁成長。而且，如大家所知，ERTC的影響與利率非常相似，幾乎完全取決於利潤率。

Both diluted earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 7% to $1.38.

稀釋後每股收益和調整後稀釋後每股收益均成長 7% 至 1.38 美元。

I'll quickly summarize our results for the year-to-date period. Total revenue grew 5% to $4 billion. Management Solutions revenue increased 4% to $2.9 billion. PEO and Insurance Solutions increased 7% to $939 million. And interest on funds held for clients increased 44% to $108 million.

我將簡要總結我們今年迄今為止的業績。總收入成長5%，達到40億美元。管理解決方案營收成長4%，達到29億美元。 PEO（專業雇主組織）和保險解決方案收入成長7%，達到9.39億美元。客戶資金利息收入成長44%，達到1.08億美元。

Total expenses for the first 9 months grew 4% to $2.3 billion, and our operating margins for the first 9 months of the year were 42.5%, and that's a 70 basis point expansion over the prior year period.

前 9 個月的總支出成長了 4%，達到 23 億美元；前 9 個月的營業利潤率為 42.5%，比去年同期成長了 70 個基點。

Diluted earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings per share both increased 9% year-over-year to $3.62 and $3.60, respectively.

稀釋後每股盈餘和調整後稀釋後每股盈餘均較去年同期成長 9%，分別達到 3.62 美元和 3.60 美元。

I'll now give you a quick overview of our financial position. As many of you know, we maintain a strong financial position with high-quality cash flows and earnings generation. Our balance for cash, restricted cash and total corporate investments was $1.8 billion. And our total borrowings were approximately $817 million as of the end of the quarter.

現在我簡要概述一下我們的財務狀況。如大家所知，我們財務狀況穩健，現金流和獲利能力都很強勁。截至本季末，我們的現金、受限現金和公司投資總額為18億美元。我們的總借款約為8.17億美元。

Cash flow from operations for the first 9 months was $1.7 billion, that's up 30% compared to the same period last year. That was driven primarily by higher net income and fluctuations in working capital.

前九個月的經營活動現金流為17億美元，較去年同期成長30%。這主要得益於淨利成長和營運資本的波動。

And we returned a total of $1.1 billion to shareholders through the first 9 months of the year. That includes $963 million in dividends and $169 million of share repurchases. And our 12-month rolling return on equity remains robust at 47%.

今年前九個月，我們總共向股東返還了11億美元，其中包括9.63億美元的股利和1.69億美元的股票回購。我們的12個月滾動股本回報率仍維持在47%的穩健水準。

I'll now turn to our updated guidance for the current fiscal year. This outlook assumes the current macro environment, which obviously had some level of uncertainty. We have revised our guidance on certain measures based on performance this quarter, and this also reflects the impact of our decision to wind down our ERTC service based on recently proposed legislation.

接下來，我將介紹我們更新後的本財年業績指引。該指引基於當前的宏觀經濟環境，而宏觀經濟環境顯然存在一定程度的不確定性。我們根據本季的業績調整了部分指標的指引，同時也反映了我們根據近期提出的立法提案而決定逐步停止ERTC服務的影響。

I just want to pause there from my prepared remarks to provide a little bit more color on ERTC. I think many of you guys are aware that there is bipartisan legislation out there that would end the ERTC program retro to January 31 of this year. I think it's passed the House. It hasn't yet passed the Senate, but that does create a level of uncertainty around ERTC. We continue to sell it in the month of February. We made a decision based on that level of uncertainty to stop recognizing the revenue on ERTC subject to -- or subsequent to January 31, and we've essentially removed it from the forecast in Q4. And so that's part of what you see as it relates to the impact to the quarter and also impacts the guidance that -- the updated guidance that I'm about to give you for the year.

我想先暫停一下我的發言稿，再詳細解釋ERTC的狀況。我想你們很多人都知道，目前有一項兩黨共同提出的法案，擬將ERTC計畫追溯至今年1月31日終止。該法案已在眾議院獲得通過，但尚未在參議院獲得通過，這確實為ERTC帶來了一定的不確定性。我們在2月份仍繼續銷售ERTC產品。基於這種不確定性，我們決定停止確認1月31日及之後產生的ERTC收入，並且已將其從第四季度的業績預測中移除。因此，這部分內容對本季業績以及我即將發布的年度業績指引都產生了影響。

Management Solutions is now expected to grow in the range of 3.5% to 4%. We previously had guided to the lower end of the 5% to 6% range. PEO and Insurance is still expected to grow in the range of 7% to 9%, although we now expect that it will be more towards the lower end of that range. Interest on funds held for clients is still expected to be in the range of $140 million to $150 million.

管理解決方案業務的預期成長率目前預期在3.5%至4%之間。我們先前的預期為5%至6%區間的下限。專業雇主組織（PEO）和保險業務的預期成長率仍為7%至9%，但我們現在預期實際成長率會更接近該區間的下限。客戶資金的利息收入預計仍為1.4億美元至1.5億美元。

Total revenue is now expected to grow in the range of 5% to 6%. Our prior guidance was 6% to 7%. Other income net is expected to be income in the range of $40 million to $45 million, and this is raised from the previous guidance of $35 million to $40 million.

總營收預估成長5%至6%，高於先前預期的6%至7%。其他淨收入預估為4,000萬美元至4,500萬美元，高於先前預期的3,500萬美元至4,000萬美元。

Our guidance for operating margins and effective tax rate are unchanged, although we still do anticipate being at the high end of the operating margin guidance range, which was 41% to 42%. And adjusted diluted earnings per share is still expected to grow in the range of 10% to 11%.

我們對營業利潤率和實際稅率的預期保持不變，儘管我們仍然預期營業利潤率將處於預期範圍的高端，即41%至42%。調整後的稀釋每股盈餘預計仍將成長10%至11%。

Now let me just provide a little bit of color on the fourth quarter. We are currently anticipating total revenue growth to be approximately 5% in Q4. We expect the ERTC headwind to Management Solutions growth in the fourth quarter to be similar to what it was in the third quarter. And we would also expect the operating margins to be around 40% in the quarter.

現在讓我簡單介紹一下第四季的情況。我們目前預計第四季總營收成長約為5%。我們預期ERTC對管理解決方案成長的阻礙作用在第四季與第三季類似。此外，我們預計第四季的營業利潤率約為40%。

We are currently in the middle of our annual budget process and working on our expectations for the next fiscal year. We obviously will provide formal guidance like we normally do at the end of the Q4 when we get to that call. However, I will share some preliminary thoughts, and I will emphasize the word preliminary around what we're expecting for fiscal '25.

我們目前正在進行年度預算編制工作，並制定下一財政年度的預期目標。當然，我們會像往常一樣，在第四季末的電話會議上提供正式的業績指引。不過，我想先分享一些初步想法，並強調一下，關於2025財年的預期，這些想法只是初步的。

On a preliminary basis, we would expect total revenue growth to be consistent with the fourth quarter growth rate. And as a reminder, as I just told you, that would be in the 5% range. And this does include a headwind from ERTC of approximately 2%. I mean, ERTC, for all intents and purposes, is 0 going forward. I know what that headwind is going to be. I know what the dollar amount was this year, and it will be approximately a 2% headwind to revenue growth for FY '25. And that is assumed in the 5% range number that I gave you. And then despite this headwind, we are committed to delivering operating margin expansion in fiscal '25.

初步來看，我們預計總收入成長將與第四季度的成長率保持一致。再次提醒一下，正如我剛才所說，成長率將在5%左右。這其中包含了ERTC帶來的約2%的負面影響。我的意思是，ERTC實際上在未來將不再產生影響。我知道這個負面影響的具體金額，也知道今年的具體金額，它將對2025財年的營收成長造成約2%的負面影響。這已包含在我之前提到的5%的增長率範圍內。儘管有這個負面影響，我們仍致力於在2025財年實現營業利潤率的成長。

We are still going through the annual budget process, working through the details. We'll provide more color as we get to the end of the year. Obviously, this is based on our current assumptions, which we are still working through. Those may change, but we'll update you again when we get to the fourth quarter. I will refer you to our investor slides on our website for additional information.

我們仍在進行年度預算編制工作，正在敲定細節。臨近年底，我們將提供更詳細的資訊。顯然，這是基於我們目前的假設，而這些假設仍在不斷改進中。這些假設可能會有所變動，我們會在第四季再次更新相關資訊。更多信息，請參閱我們網站上的投資者演示文稿。

And with that, I'll turn it back over to John.

那麼，我就把麥克風交還給約翰了。

Okay. Thank you, Bob. Mike, we'll now open it up for questions.

好的。謝謝你，鮑伯。麥克，現在開始接受提問。

(Operator Instructions) And we do have our first question from Mark Marcon with Baird.

（操作說明）我們收到了 Baird 公司的 Mark Marcon 的第一個問題。

So ERTC, just one thing just to clarify, Bob. When you talked about that you sold it in February, but because of the legislation, you're going to end. It's basically bipartisan and it's basically going to end retroactively in January 1. So you then stopped recognizing the revenue.

鮑勃，ERTC，還有一件事需要澄清一下。你之前提到過，你們在二月賣掉了ERTC，但由於立法規定，ERTC即將終止。這項立法基本上是兩黨共同支持的，基本上會追溯到1月1日終止。所以，ERTC屆時將不再確認相關收入。

Did you -- is any ERTC revenue from -- that you sold from January 1 through February actually included in the third quarter number that you just reported?

您在 1 月 1 日至 2 月期間售出的任何 ERTC 收入是否已計入您剛剛公佈的第三季數據？

Yes. Everything that we sold and filed in the month of January, Mark, is included in the quarter, but nothing beyond January 31. So we continue to sell it in the month of February. I would say the faucet was still running steady in February on ERTC, and we made the decision not to recognize revenue around that just because there's so much uncertainty.

是的。馬克，我們在1月售出併申報的所有產品都計入了當季收入，但1月31日之後的產品除外。所以我們在2月繼續銷售。我想說，2月ERTC（員工稅收抵免）的銷售依然穩定，我們決定不確認這部分收入，因為有太多不確定因素。

And obviously, we're telling our clients that because of that level of uncertainty, if that bill does pass, we would not -- we would refund their monies for the service that we sold in the month of February.

顯然，我們告訴客戶，由於這種不確定性，如果該法案獲得通過，我們將不會退還他們在二月購買服務的款項。

So we think it's the right decision from an accounting standpoint to stop recognizing revenue on it. And then I would just say, as we move forward in the month of February, that faucet has slowed to a drip on ERTC. Obviously, we're not focused on it, and it's -- there's probably a little bit that came in, in March, but that was probably stuff that we already had kind of in the queue that we were still processing. It's pretty much that program is over. And yes -- yes, go ahead.

所以從會計角度來看，我們認為停止確認這部分收入是正確的決定。然後我想說，隨著二月的推進，ERTC的收入來源已經大幅減少。顯然，我們並沒有把重點放在這個專案上，而且──三月可能還有一些收入，但那很可能是我們之前已經積壓在處理佇列裡的專案。基本上，這個專案已經結束了。是的——是的，繼續。

I mean, just related to the guide that you were providing, I was -- obviously, for the third quarter within Management Solutions because of the ERTC headwind, things were tougher. And it seems like you actually did see some acceleration ex ERTC on total revenue.

我的意思是，就您提供的指南而言，顯然，由於ERTC帶來的不利影響，管理解決方案業務第三季的情況更加艱難。但您似乎確實看到，剔除ERTC的影響後，總收入有所成長。

So I was just wondering, is there any way to quantify the impact in terms of not recognizing that revenue in February just because, obviously, you were anticipating that coming in? So any thoughts there?

所以我想知道，有沒有辦法量化二月未確認這筆收入的影響，因為很明顯，你們原本預期會有這筆收入到賬？對此有什麼想法嗎？

Yes. I mean, high level, Mark, I mean, we provided guidance for the quarter. I think we -- you guys know what the guidance was that we provided for the quarter. The Q3 actually came in maybe about 100 basis points in that range lower than what we had said.

是的。我是說，馬克，從宏觀層面來說，我們給了季度業績指引。我想你們都知道我們給的季度業績指引是什麼。第三季的實際業績比我們先前預測的低了約100個基點。

And I would say probably 1/3 or a little bit more of that was related to the decision that we took on ERTC. So you could probably do the math on that and back in to get to a number that's close to the impact in February.

我認為其中大概有三分之一甚至更多與我們針對ERTC所做​​的決定有關。所以你可以據此計算一下，反推得出接近二月影響的數字。

Okay. Great. And then with regards to the margin expansion, obviously, that's very encouraging, especially when you're not getting that benefit from ERTC.

好的，太好了。至於利潤率的擴張，顯然非常令人鼓舞，尤其是在無法從員工稅收抵免政策 (ERTC) 中受益的情況下。

What are the key drivers in terms of that? Is it the AI initiatives? Is it efficiency on the sales side? What's driving the margin expansion? And to -- how do you think -- to what extent do you think you're going to be able to continue that strong progress?

關鍵驅動因素是什麼？是人工智慧專案嗎？是銷售效率的提升嗎？是什麼推動了利潤率的成長？您認為這種強勁的成長動能持續到什麼程度？

Yes. Mark, this is John here. Again, as you know, we pride ourselves in being the best operators in the industry and have the DNA of -- and we know the levers to pull as we see the type of trends that we see.

是的。馬克，我是約翰。如你所知，我們以成為業內最優秀的運營商而自豪，我們擁有這種基因——而且我們知道在看到各種趨勢時應該採取哪些措施。

So we've certainly done those, what I would say, typical things, but the deeper question you're asking is the right one. The fact of the matter is over the past 3 years, we've done a lot of investments as we've had the opportunity with the ERTC benefit to make a lot of investments in the business.

所以，我們當然做了那些，可以說是典型的事情，但你提出的更深層的問題才是正確的。事實上，在過去的三年裡，我們利用員工晉升稅收抵免（ERTC）的機會，對業務進行了大量投資。

We really focus that investment around our digitalization and digital adoption capabilities. We've built global capabilities in our operations footprint. And we started to really roll that out and really test and pilot that over the course of this fiscal year.

我們真正將投資重點放在數位化和數位化應用能力上。我們已在全球營運區域建立了相應的能力。在本財年，我們開始真正推廣、測試和試行這些能力。

And particularly during selling season, a lot of the enhancements both on the client service and retention side as well as the digital onboarding across each of our platforms, we launched a series of products that demonstrated to us at scale that we can drive stronger operational and sales efficiency in our model.

尤其是在銷售旺季，我們在客戶服務和客戶留存方面進行了大量改進，並在我們各個平台上推出了一系列產品，這些產品大規模地向我們證明，我們可以在我們的模式下提高營運和銷售效率。

And so we're going to continue to double down on that and continue to look for opportunities that we can drive digital transformation in our back office, drive digital adoption by our prospects and channel partners, clients and their employees. And we believe that's going to continue to drive margin expansion. That's what we've seen in these tests and pilots. And now we're really starting to push and roll that out at scale.

因此，我們將繼續加大投入，繼續尋找機會，推動後台部門的數位化轉型，促進潛在客戶、通路合作夥伴、現有客戶及其員工採用數位化技術。我們相信，這將繼續推動利潤成長。我們在這些測試和試點項目中已經看到了這一點。現在，我們正開始大規模地推動和推廣這項措施。

And we have our next question from Kevin McVeigh with UBS.

接下來，我們來聽聽瑞銀集團的凱文麥克維提出的問題。

On the execution, I guess, Bob, just would be for you, the '25 guidance preliminary, pretty helpful. Any sense of what type of macro environment you're factoring into that, I guess, from an employment perspective more broadly?

關於執行方面，鮑勃，我想對你來說，2025年的初步指導應該很有幫助。從更廣泛的就業角度來看，你認為你把哪些宏觀環境因素考慮進去了？

Yes. Kevin, I mean, we're still going through and finalizing all of our assumptions. But I would say at this point in time, we would assume a fairly stable, steady macro environment. Obviously, there's an expectation that the Fed is going to start cutting rates later this year. We do have some of that factored in at this point in time.

是的，凱文，我的意思是，我們仍在核實和最終確定所有假設。但就目前而言，我認為我們會假設宏觀經濟環境相當穩定。顯然，市場預期聯準會將在今年稍晚開始降息。我們目前已經將部分降息因素納入考量。

But I would say, overall, the assumption is a fairly steady state macro environment, with some expectation that there'll be rate cuts as we move into the fiscal year.

但總的來說，我認為宏觀經濟環境將保持相對穩定，並且預計隨著財年的推進，利率將會下調。

Yes. I think, Kevin, I would just add on that on the macro side. We are adjusting our view and have adjusted our view even more as we looked at the third quarter based upon some of the hiring dynamics that we're seeing in the client base because there is somewhat of a disconnect when you look at an economy that's growing at 3% to 3.5%, high 2s, even if you go back and what you're seeing from a hiring perspective.

是的。凱文，我想補充一點，就宏觀層面而言。我們正在調整我們的觀點，並且在觀察第三季時，根據我們從客戶群中觀察到的一些招募動態，我們進一步調整了我們的觀點。因為即使從招募的角度來看，在經濟成長率達到3%到3.5%（接近2%）的情況下，仍有一些脫節。

And I would say the state of hiring in small businesses continues to be a challenge. I think it's a labor issue. It's not a demand issue. What we continue to see is clients telling us they're having trouble filling open positions and, quite frankly, with qualified candidates. I think one of the things that our HR professionals that are engaged, as you know, we have about 2.2 million of our client worksite employees under management by our HR team. So as we saw some of the trends we saw that were disconnected from our models in a 3% GDP economy, why weren't we seeing the hiring that we would have anticipated happening in the base.

我認為小型企業的招募現狀依然嚴峻。我認為這是勞動力問題，而非需求問題。我們不斷聽到客戶反映，他們難以填補空缺職位，坦白說，也難以找到合格的候選人。如您所知，我們的人力資源專業人員負責管理客戶公司約220萬名員工。因此，在GDP成長率僅3%的情況下，我們觀察到一些與模型預測不符的趨勢，為什麼我們沒有看到預期中的招募高峰？

We had active structured dialogues with those clients, and what we're hearing is, is that they have open positions. They want to hire. They can't find qualified people. And I think they had been [firm] through the course of the pandemic in hiring just anyone. And so they're not willing to do that at the current labor rate.

我們與這些客戶進行了積極的結構化對話，了解到他們目前有職位空缺，想要招聘，但找不到合格的人才。我認為他們在疫情期間一直堅持不隨便招人，所以他們不願意以目前的勞動成本來僱用員工。

So the macro environment that we see, you look at our job index, continued moderation in hiring, continued moderation in wage inflation. We saw that January and February. I would say this December, January and February, if you look at our releases, continued to show moderation. And actually, January and February were the first 2 months in our index still over 100, still showing growth, but those were the first 2 months that we actually saw growth under pre-pandemic levels.

因此，從宏觀經濟環境來看，從就業指數可以看出，招聘和薪資通膨持續放緩。我們在1月和2月都看到了這一點。我認為，從我們發布的數據來看，12月、1月和2月也持續呈現放緩的趨勢。事實上，1月和2月是我們指數首次保持在100以上，仍然顯示增長的兩個月，但這兩個月的增長水平低於疫情前的水平。

And so stay tuned. Tomorrow, we'll release the March one, but what I would tell you is that what we see is a moderating economy. We see a stable economy. We don't see signs of a recession. We don't see all the other -- demand was strong. Our pipeline was strong.

敬請期待。明天我們將發布三月的報告，但我可以告訴大家的是，我們看到經濟成長正在放緩，經濟狀況穩定。我們沒有看到任何衰退跡象，也沒有看到其他問題——需求強勁，我們的產品線也很充足。

The other things that you would typically see that would be more recessionary, we're not seeing mass layoffs. We're not seeing layoffs across. What we're seeing is openings, vacancies, trouble hiring and businesses being cautious in who they're bringing into their workforce.

其他一些通常會在經濟衰退時期出現的現象，我們並沒有看到大規模裁員。我們沒有看到普遍的裁員。我們看到的是職缺、招募困難，以及企業在招募員工時更加謹慎。

Lot of sense. And then, John, just to follow up on that point. Is that -- is kind of that tight labor what's driving kind of the re-enrollment on the Insurance side of the PEO? Or just anything to call out in terms of what's been driving that?

很有道理。約翰，我再補充一點。是因為勞動力市場緊張，才導致PEO（專業雇主組織）的保險業務方面出現了重新註冊的情況？或者說，還有其他什麼因素導致了這種情況？

I think on the PEO enrollment, I want to really give credit to the team there. I think, as you recall, a year ago, a little over a year ago, this was a challenging area for us. We were seeing things. Participation rates weren't as high. Attachment wasn't as high.

關於PEO會員招募，我真的要好好稱讚團隊。我想，你們應該還記得，一年多前，這對我們來說是個挑戰。我們當時也看到了一些問題。參與率不高，歸屬感也不強。

We really look at all aspects of both our product, our insurance product offerings, our enrollment processes and how we engage employees around that top to bottom. And we made some changes in both the product offerings we have as well as we approach clients and the employees in our insurance offerings in the PEO. And I think the team has done a good job there.

我們從上到下全面審視了我們的產品、保險產品組合、投保流程以及員工參與方式的方方面面。我們對現有產品組合以及面向客戶和員工的保險服務方式都做了一些調整。我認為團隊在這方面做得很好。

And what we've seen is now we're back to at to slightly above attachment rates, and our participation rates are back to our historical norm. So I think that was a little bit more of an execution issue than any macro item.

現在我們看到的是，附件使用率已恢復到略高於以往水平，參與率也恢復到了歷史正常水平。所以我認為這更多的是執行層面的問題，而不是什麼宏觀因素造成的。

And we have our next question from Tien-Tsin Huang with JPMorgan.

接下來，我們來聽聽摩根大通的黃天進提出的問題。

I wanted to ask on PEO. I know the commentary around sales retention and attach was quite strong, and then you moved into the low end. I'm just curious if maybe you can elaborate on that and maybe your initial thinking around PEO momentum going into next year as well because I know that was something that we were tracking.

我想問一下關於PEO的問題。我知道你們之前對銷售留存和附加價值方面的評論非常有力，但後來你們又談到了低端市場。我很好奇你們能否詳細解釋一下，以及你們對明年PEO發展勢頭的初步看法，因為我知道我們一直在關注這一點。

Yes. You want me to -- go ahead.

是的，你想讓我這麼做——那就去做吧。

Yes -- go ahead. So I'll just start with the -- no, no, no. So I'd say the big driver of maybe guiding more towards the lower end of the range was with the employment headwinds that John called out in the script.

好的，請繼續。那我就先說——不，不，不。我認為，促使我們把預期值下調到區間下限的主要原因，是約翰在稿子裡提到的就業市場逆風。

We continue to see moderation in employment, and that really was across the board. For the most part, the PEO has been able to outrun it with strong execution, both in sales retention. We mentioned we continued to see record levels of worksite employee retention. Really strong worksite employee growth in that business. And then really getting our medical insurance attachment and volumes back to where we see it. So it's really a little bit of the macro headwind.

我們持續看到就業成長放緩，而且這種情況幾乎遍及所有領域。在很大程度上，PEO（專業雇主組織）憑藉強大的執行力成功應對了這項挑戰，尤其是在銷售和客戶留存方面。我們之前提到過，我們的現場員工留存率持續創下新高。該業務的現場員工成長也非常強勁。此外，我們的醫療保險附加險業務量也已恢復到預期水準。因此，這確實受到一些宏觀經濟逆風的影響。

And the other thing I'll call out on the PEO, I think the print is strong at 8%. But as you guys know, that category is PEO and Insurance, and Insurance is typically dilutive to the growth of that overall category. So I would say that the PEO standalone growth is north of that number, obviously, that we gave you. So really strong performance in the PEO business.

關於PEO（專業雇主組織），我還要特別指出一點，我認為8%的成長率非常強勁。但如大家所知，PEO和保險業務都屬於這個類別，而保險業務通常會稀釋整個類別的成長。因此，我認為PEO業務的獨立成長率顯然高於我們剛才提到的數字。所以，PEO業務的表現確實非常出色。

And we're building momentum, and we see that carrying into next year. I'm not ready to give splits on next year between Management Solutions and the PEO, but we certainly would expect the PEO and Insurance to grow at a faster overall rate than the total revenue growth that I gave you.

我們正在積蓄力量，並預計這種勢頭將延續到明年。我目前還無法給出管理解決方案和PEO業務明年的具體成長預期，但我們預計PEO和保險業務的整體成長速度將高於我之前提到的總收入成長速度。

Got it. Okay. Very clear. So it's just really the employment side that's out of your control. Perfect. So my quick follow-up, just on the pricing front among the 3 factors. You mentioned pricing last. Any more color on the pricing? Is it more discounting that you're seeing? And I'm curious if that informs your typical price action that you would take in the May or the spring time frame. And if that's baked into your look-ahead or preliminary '25 outlook.

明白了。好的。非常清楚。所以真正不受你控制的只有就業面。完美。那我快速跟進一下，關於這三個因素中的價格方面。你最後提到了價格。關於價格方面還有什麼要補充的嗎？你看到的折扣更多了嗎？我很好奇這是否會影響你在五月或春季通常採取的價格策略。以及這是否已經納入了你對2025年的展望或初步預測。

That is a broad question. So if I missed something, you come back, Tien-Tsin. But here's what I would say. We're still able to go into the market and command our traditional value-based pricing for the value we provide. I think you can see that in the retention.

這是一個很廣泛的問題。如果我遺漏了什麼，請你再補充，田進。但我的回答是這樣的：我們仍然能夠進入市場，並按照我們提供的價值，維持我們傳統的基於價值的定價策略。我認為你可以從客戶留存率看出這一點。

And what I would tell you is, again, and I'll be so glad when I don't have to use this word again, which I think will probably be 12 months from now, ex ERTC. When I look at our actual revenue per client was ERTC was in a lot of the pricing bundles that we would sell when you're looking at the data is we're actually seeing that the pricing that we're getting across the various product groups being on par to what we have seen historically.

我想再次強調的是，我真心希望以後不用再用到這個字了，我想大概12個月後就不用再用了，這裡指的是ERTC。當我查看我們每個客戶的實際收入時，會發現ERTC包含在我們銷售的許多定價套餐中。當你查看數據時，你會發現我們各個產品組的定價實際上與我們過去看到的水平相當。

I would remind you that over the last 3 years, we have guided and have said what's been at the high end of our traditional range. And I think that our assumption is as we go into the post-pandemic era that we're going to -- like everything else seems to be going back to the mean to slightly higher.

我想提醒各位，過去三年，我們的指導和預期一直處於傳統預期範圍的高端。我認為，隨著我們進入後疫情時代，我們的預期——就像其他一切事物一樣——似乎也將回歸均值或略微偏高。

So when I look at retention, again, retention back to kind of pre-pandemic levels, but slightly better. I think that's where you'll see pricing, and we still feel good about where we can go in terms of pricing.

所以，當我再看用戶留存率時，我發現它已經恢復到疫情前的水平，甚至略有提升。我認為定價策略也會基於此，而且我們對未來的定價前景依然充滿信心。

I think the competitive environment, it's always been a competitive environment. I think there were 2 dynamics going on that were interesting to me when I looked at the data. And again, when I'm looking across our 401(k) business, our PEO business, our HCM mid-market business, our small business HCM business, our SurePayroll business, I just -- when I go across our insurance business, the broad set of businesses and look at the third quarter, which is one of our largest volume quarters, and I see the volume hold up to what I expected.

我認為競爭環境一直都很激烈。我看數據時發現有兩個動態很有趣。此外，當我縱觀我們的401(k)業務、PEO業務、中端市場HCM業務、小型企業HCM業務、SurePayroll業務，以及我們的保險業務（涵蓋所有業務），特別是第三季（通常是我們業務量最大的季度之一），我發現業務量符合我的預期。

But what was interesting, the average client size was down in almost all of those slightly, which impacts our realized price, right? You just have less employees, you have less checks. And what I sense is, is that they're in the -- if you think of our business, boulders, rocks and pebbles, right? I think boulders have been harder to move. Less decision. You've heard some other competitors that are more targeted in the upper end of the market talk about extended decision time frames, et cetera.

但有趣的是，幾乎所有這些客戶的平均規模都略有下降，這會影響我們的實際售價，對吧？員工少了，支票也少了。我的感覺是，他們現在就像——如果你把我們的業務想像成巨石、岩石和鵝卵石，對吧？我覺得巨石更難搬動。決策也更少了。你可能聽過一些更專注於高端市場的競爭對手在談論決策週期延長等等。

So while we got the volume we expected, we got a little more rocks and pebbles than we expected, which drove a little bit of the rate. And then it was a more competitive environment in terms of both clients from a retention perspective and from a purchase perspective, demanding more and, I would say, being a little more negotiative in their approach, which is kind of what you sense in the economy with high inflation.

所以，雖然我們達到了預期的交易量，但收到的碎石和鵝卵石比預期要多一些，這在一定程度上推高了價格。此外，從客戶留存和購買的角度來看，競爭環境也更加激烈，客戶的要求更高，而且我認為他們在談判方式上也更具優勢，這與高通膨經濟環境下的普遍現象類似。

And we have our next question from Bryan Bergin with TD Cowen.

接下來，我們來聽聽TD Cowen的Bryan Bergin提出的問題。

I wanted to just dig in a bit more on bookings. Can you just talk about how the third quarter bookings came in relative to your expectations? How 4Q is trending so far? And if you can, give us some added color across client size, PEO versus ASO as well.

我想更深入地了解一下預訂情況。您能否談談第三季的預訂量是否符合預期？第四季目前的趨勢如何？如果可以的話，也請您詳細介紹一下客戶規模、PEO（專業雇主組織）和ASO（應用程式商店優化）等方面的情況。

Yes. Bryan, I would just probably reiterate what I've kind of already said. We had solid demand for our solutions really across the board. Volumes were in line with our expectations.

是的，布萊恩，我可能只想重申我之前說過的話。我們的解決方案在各個方面都得到了強勁的需求。銷量也符合我們的預期。

What I said before is across each one of those sectors, I would say that the average size of the deal that we landed was smaller than what we anticipated than typical. So -- and I'm talking small, small amounts of differences.

我之前說過，在所有這些領域，我們達成的交易平均規模都比我們預期的要小。我指的是非常小的差異。

But as you all know, in a business of our scale, a small change going from average 1 or 2 employees or 3 or 4 employees or worksite employees per deal, it can have an impact on the revenue you expect.

但大家都知道，在我們這樣規模的企業中，即使只是平均每筆交易的員工人數從 1 或 2 人增加到 3 或 4 人，或者每個工地的員工人數減少，都會對預期收入產生影響。

Okay. Understood. And then just on the sales front and sales investment, I guess, can you give us a sense on how sales headcount has trended relative to the start of the year?

好的，明白了。那麼，關於銷售和銷售投資方面，您能否簡要介紹一下銷售人員數量與年初相比的變化趨勢？

And as you go forward and plan for '25, how are you thinking about adding absolute sales headcount versus trying to lean on more tech investments to drive more productivity?

展望未來，在規劃 2025 年時，您是考慮增加銷售人員總數，還是依靠更多的技術投資來提高生產力？

Yes. Bryan, I would say this, our sales headcount has been at our expectations through the year. When we went into the selling season, we were at headcount. That's what we reported.

是的。布萊恩，我想說的是，我們全年的銷售人員數量都符合預期。銷售旺季開始時，我們的人員數量也達到了預期。我們也是這麼報告的。

I think to your point, we -- what was interesting in the third quarter, when I look holistically across the business, the amount of business we drove digitally across each of the platforms was impressive. And that's approaching some of our other channels that have historically been Paychex's bedrock of where we've gotten business.

我認為您說的沒錯，第三季最有趣的地方在於，從整體來看，我們在各個平台上實現的數位化業務量都非常驚人。而且，這已經接近了我們其他一些管道的水平，而這些管道歷來都是Paychex業務的基石。

And so what we're seeing is and what we're doing with digital, I think, will continue to be something. And we're looking at a lot of different go-to-market strategies that we think will drive more productivity in our sales reps. And I think what we're trying to do right now is make sure we're doing the proper territory management, so that we can have even more reps more productive.

所以，我認為我們目前在數位化方面所看到的和所做的工作將會持續下去。我們正在研究許多不同的市場推廣策略，我們認為這些策略可以提高銷售代表的效率。我認為我們目前正在努力確保我們進行有效的區域管理，以便我們能夠讓更多的銷售代表提高工作效率。

So I'm not prepared -- we're still working through our final budget planning process. What I can tell you is that we're driving a lot of productivity on a per rep basis. And we're going to make sure that we're covering every nook and cranny of the market. So making sure how many salespeople do we actually need to go after the market opportunity we have in each of the segments. And I think getting more specific about segment sizes and product type is what we're focused on as part of our new go-to-market strategy going into this post-pandemic era.

所以我還沒做好準備——我們還在進行最終的預算規劃。但我可以告訴你們的是，我們正在大幅提升每位銷售代表的效率。我們會確保覆蓋市場的每個角落。因此，我們需要確定在每個細分市場中，究竟需要多少銷售人員才能抓住市場機會。我認為，在後疫情時代，我們新的市場策略重點在於更精準地掌握各個細分市場的規模和產品類型。

And we have our next question from Samad Samana with Jefferies.

接下來，我們來聽聽來自傑富瑞集團的薩馬德·薩馬納提出的問題。

So maybe, first, we'd heard about maybe pricing increases going into effect, let's call it, either towards the end of the year or earlier this year. I was just curious if there is a change in the timing of when you push through price increases for customers this year? And then I have a follow-up question as well.

所以，首先，我們可能聽說過價格上漲的消息，大概會在年底或年初生效。我只是好奇，今年貴公司推行價格上漲的時間安排是否有改變？另外，我還有一個後續問題。

Yes. I'll take the first question. Yes. No change to the amount. I mean, I think your timing, it's not always the exact time every year, but it's in that range, typically towards the ended the fiscal year. Beginning in the next fiscal year is typically when we have our annual price increases. So really no change to the timing there.

是的，我先回答第一個問題。是的，金額沒有變動。我的意思是，雖然每年的時間點可能不完全一樣，但大致都在那個範圍內，通常是在財政年度結束時。從下一個財政年度開始，我們通常會進行年度價格上漲。所以，時間上確實沒有改變。

Okay. Great. And then I guess, just as you think about segmenting by customer size, I know what you just said about the average deal size, comparing it being smaller. But are you seeing any trends within if you stratified it by your smallest customers versus maybe slightly more like mid-market?

好的，太好了。然後我想，就像您考慮按客戶規模細分一樣，我知道您剛才說的平均交易規模較小。但是，如果您按最小的客戶群和中等規模的客戶群進行分層，您是否發現任何趨勢？

And then same question between Management Solutions and PEO, if we're seeing anything that's different by the type of customer that you're seeing in terms of behavior or deal size or deal closing times.

那麼，管理解決方案和 PEO 之間也存在同樣的問題，我們是否看到不同類型的客戶在行為、交易規模或交易完成時間方面有任何不同之處。

No. So I don't really see much change overall. What I would say is, and part of this I'm reading what I hear others have said, that play in markets and when I look at our -- by deal size.

不，所以我總體上沒看到太大變化。我想說的是，部分原因是我從其他人那裡聽到的，市場運作以及我觀察我們的交易規模時發現…

So we've got a mid-market team, we've got a PEO team. They're out in the market outside the base. And they're going after deals, and they're getting an average deal size. And we'll get a mix. We'll get this number of clients over 1,000 employees, as many 500 to 999. You get to drill, right? And on average, you just -- you get a mix, and that's the mix that kind of holds in the marketplace kind of historically.

所以我們有一個中端市場團隊，還有一個PEO團隊。他們負責拓展基礎市場以外的業務，積極尋找交易機會，平均每筆交易的規模都比較大。我們會獲得各種類型的客戶，包括員工人數超過1000人的客戶，以及員工人數在500到999人之間的客戶。你可以深入研究，對吧？總的來說，你會獲得各種類型的客戶，而這種類型的客戶組成在歷史上基本上也符合市場規律。

What I think you see when I look across it, and Bob can comment as well, is that on the larger side, the larger end, the enterprise end of that market, there was less of those deals that came in, in the PEO, came in, in the ASO and came in, in the traditional HCM. And we made up the volume in more slightly average size deals that we get. But then when you add that all together, because you have less boulders to the mix, you have a little less, either worksite employees or less checks than you planned on. Does that make sense?

我認為，從整體來看（鮑伯也可以補充一點），在規模較大的企業級市場中，無論是PEO、ASO或傳統HCM領域的交易量都比較少。而我們則透過一些規模稍大的中等規模交易來彌補這一缺口。但總的來說，由於大型專案較少，實際到手的現場員工數量或支票數量也比預期少。您明白我的意思嗎？

I'm going to break -- it does. I'm going to squeeze one more. And I know 2 are normally the limit. But just is there -- I know you're not guiding by segment for next year, but is there any reason, Bob, to assume that the trend line that you've guided for, for next quarter for Management Solutions ex ERTC and PEO, what's implied in the guide that, that wouldn't be the trend line heading into next year? I guess, is there anything that would materially get you off of those trend lines?

我快撐不住了——真的。我還要再擠出一個。我知道通常兩個是極限。但是——我知道你明年沒有按業務板塊給出業績指引，但是鮑勃，你給出的關於管理解決方案（不包括ERTC和PEO）下一季度業績指引的趨勢線，從指引中有什麼暗示表明，這條趨勢線不會延續到明年？我想，有什麼實質的因素會讓你偏離這些趨勢線嗎？

Yes. I mean, I wouldn't say significantly, Samad. I mean, I don't want to get into providing specifics on the 2 categories yet, as we're still going through our annual budget process.

是的。我的意思是，薩馬德，我不會說影響很大。我的意思是，我現在還不想就這兩個類別給出具體細節，因為我們還在進行年度預算編制工作。

But we certainly would expect the PEO and Insurance category growth next year to be similar to what we've seen this year. And Management Solutions is where the big headwind is with ERTC. But I would say similar trend lines to where we're exiting the year.

但我們預計明年PEO和保險類別的成長將與今年類似。而管理解決方案領域則面臨ERTC方面的最大阻力。但我認為其發展趨勢將與今年年底的情況類似。

We have our next question from Jason Kupferberg with Bank of America.

接下來，我們來聽聽來自美國銀行的傑森·庫柏伯格提出的問題。

This is Caroline. I am on for Jason. So in terms of capital deployment heading into 4Q and also 2025, can you give an update on the relative attractiveness of buybacks versus M&A? And then also, could you give an update on the general health of your M&A pipeline?

我是卡羅琳，我代替傑森發言。關於第四季以及2025年的資本部署，您能否介紹一下股票回購與併購的相對吸引力？另外，能否介紹一下貴公司併購專案的整體進度？

Yes. Look, I would say that we continue to be open to acquisitions that meet the strategic objectives that we've laid out and that make financially sense. I would say that I feel like in several areas and industries that we have interest, that the multiples that I've seen are getting into line that are more reasonable and trying to be active.

是的。我想說，我們仍然對符合我們既定策略目標且在財務上合理的收購持開放態度。我認為，在我們感興趣的幾個領域和行業，估值倍數正在趨於合理，我們也積極尋求收購機會。

And the key thing is just the timing of that, when is the right time of that. So we're certainly open for business, active engaging in both tuck-ins where we can add capability. We're doing a lot of things and looking at what we can do from an AI and digital HR perspective, constantly looking for adjacencies that are driving really the needs of our customers in terms of what they need to succeed and what we've talked about, the access to capital, being able to retain it and hire employees, and really getting access to affordable benefits that allow them to attract clients.

關鍵在於時機，何時才是最佳時機。我們當然歡迎各方合作，積極參與各種整合，以增強自身能力。我們正在做很多事情，並從人工智慧和數位人力資源的角度審視我們可以做些什麼，不斷尋找能夠真正滿足客戶需求的領域，幫助他們取得成功。正如我們之前討論過的，獲取資金、留住資金、招募員工，以及獲得價格合理的福利，從而吸引客戶。

So all of those things are open. We've got an active engaged team that is talking to a lot of different prospects. But more to come. We certainly have the capital capability and the ability to do acquisitions, and we're prepared to pull the trigger if we can come across something that makes financial sense.

所以所有這些可能性都存在。我們有一個積極主動的團隊，正在與許多潛在收購者洽談。但未來還會有更多進展。我們當然有足夠的資金和能力進行收購，如果遇到財務上合理的目標，我們隨時準備出手。

And Caroline, I mean, the only thing I would add to that, just overall as it relates to capital allocation, really, no change in our approach there. We're going to continue to invest in the business. Dividends are -- we're going to continue to grow the dividend, and that will continue to be our primary use of cash.

卡羅琳，我的意思是，就資本配置而言，我唯一要補充的是，我們的做法實際上沒有任何改變。我們將繼續投資於業務。至於股息——我們將繼續提高股息，這仍將是我們現金的主要用途。

You mentioned share repurchases, really, no change in our philosophy there. We do that to offset dilution from executive comp. You saw recently, a month or so ago, we did do a new share reauthorization, so we can continue to do that. The old authorization had expired.

您提到了股票回購，實際上，我們的理念並沒有改變。我們這樣做是為了抵銷高階主管薪酬帶來的股權稀釋。您也看到了，大約一個月前，我們進行了新的股票回購授權，所以我們可以繼續進行股票回購。之前的授權已經到期了。

And then to John's point, we certainly are interested in M&A opportunistically, and we'll continue to use M&A to drive growth in the business. So our strategy and philosophy around capital allocation is very consistent with what you are all used to in the past.

正如約翰所說，我們當然對併購抱持機會主義的興趣，我們將繼續利用併購來推動業務成長。因此，我們對資本配置的策略和理念與大家過去所熟悉的非常一致。

And we have our next question from James Faucette with Morgan Stanley.

接下來，我們來聽聽摩根士丹利的詹姆斯·福塞特提出的問題。

I wanted to go back on just a quick couple macro points that you're making. If I rewind back in December, you talked a little bit about some concerns you had about potential for increases in out-of-business rates, et cetera. I'm just wondering, how that's evolved and what your current outlook is there? And it seems like you feel better about it, but I just want to make sure I'm interpreting your comments correctly.

我想就您剛才提到的幾個宏觀要點再補充一點。回顧去年12月，您曾談到一些關於停業整治費等相關政策可能上漲的擔憂。我想知道，現在情況如何？您目前的看法是什麼？您似乎感覺好多了，但我還是想確認我是否正確理解了您的意思。

Yes. Jim, I would say that out-of-business rates are not out of the norm that you would expect given the accelerated new business starts that we saw 2 to 3 years ago. Small business starts are down a little bit from those peaks and highs, but still above pre-pandemic levels.

是的，吉姆，我認為目前的倒閉率並沒有超出預期，考慮到兩三年前新企業數量的激增，目前的倒閉率也在預料之中。小型企業的新創企業數量雖然比之前的峰值略有下降，但仍高於疫情前的水平。

But again, it goes back to what I said before. We're not seeing signs of what would typically be seen in a recessionary period where there was accelerated out of businesses. Right now, what I would say out-of-business is elevated and particularly in the low end. But when you look at that in context of how many new businesses were started over the last 3 years, that's not atypical because within 2 years, 50% are gone. Within 5 years, 75% of them are gone.

但話說回來，這又回到了我之前說的。我們並沒有看到通常在經濟衰退時期會出現的企業加速倒閉的跡象。目前，我認為倒閉的企業數量偏高，尤其是在低端企業。但如果你結合過去三年新成立的企業數量來看，這種情況並非異常，因為通常情況下，兩年內就會有50%的企業倒閉，五年內則會有75%的企業倒閉。

So that's -- it's not being driven by, what I would say, economic hardship or broad-based. Businesses that you would not expect to go out of business don't seem to be going out of business, if that makes sense.

所以，這並非由我所說的經濟困難或普遍因素所驅動。那些你原本認為不會倒閉的企業，似乎並沒有倒閉，如果我這麼說你能理解的話。

Yes, it does make sense. I appreciate that. And then you -- we've talked about kind of labor scarcity pretty consistently for the last few years. And I think your incremental comments in terms of the quality of labor and specifically employers being more discerning now is interesting.

是的，這很有道理。我很贊同。還有，我們過去幾年一直在討論勞動力短缺的問題。我認為您關於勞動力素質，特別是雇主現在更加挑剔的觀點很有意思。

Any specific areas or whether it be industries or geographic regions that that's important, too? And I'm asking the question because I'm trying to think about what the path to resolution there is or if this is just something we're perpetually going to be grappling with.

是否有任何特定領域、行業或地理區域也很重要？我提出這個問題是因為我正在思考解決這個問題的方法是什麼，或者這是否是我們永遠都要面對的難題。

Well, look, what we keep trying to focus ourselves on is what more can we do to help our clients retain and attract quality employees. It's in their interest. It's certainly in our interest given the way we get paid.

嗯，你看，我們一直努力關注的是如何才能更好地幫助客戶留住並吸引優秀員工。這符合他們的利益。考慮到我們的收費方式，這當然也符合我們的利益。

I think, as you know, we launched 2 years ago the AI-based Retention Insights product that gives them insights to where they may have retention risk. We've got this -- the partnership with Indeed that's fully integrated, and we're actually elevating their job postings up in the listings for them as part of that partnership.

我想，如您所知，我們兩年前推出了基於人工智慧的「留存洞察」產品，它可以幫助他們了解可能的留存風險。我們與Indeed建立了全面整合的合作夥伴關係，並且作為合作的一部分，我們正在提升Indeed的職位發布排名。

We're -- we just did the Visier product, which is on the way to being launched. We'll give them compensation information to be done. We're going to be doing some things in the next fiscal year around creating benefit bundles for our non-insurance HCM clients that allow their employees to feel like being part of that employee relationship, give them access to catastrophic care.

我們剛剛完成了Visier產品，它即將上線。我們會向他們提供補償資訊。在下一個財政年度，我們將圍繞為我們的非保險型HCM客戶創建福利組合方案開展一些工作，使他們的員工感受到自己是員工關係的一部分，並讓他們獲得重大疾病的保障。

We're trying to do a lot of things to solve this problem for our clients. And obviously, there's more we need to do because the simple fact is we have a generational change happening in the labor force. Participation rates remain below pre-pandemic levels, and it's going to be very difficult given the rate of retirements that we're seeing in Baby Boomers to really see that change. And what you see in the prime age workers were actually at record highs. The problem is there's not enough prime age people to fill all the opportunities.

我們正在努力採取多種措施來幫助客戶解決這個問題。顯然，我們還需要做更多，因為勞動市場正在經歷世代交替。勞動參與率仍然低於疫情前的水平，而且考慮到嬰兒潮世代的退休速度，要真正改變這種狀況將非常困難。事實上，黃金年齡層的勞動者數量已經達到了歷史新高。問題在於，黃金年齡層的人口數量不足以填補所有空缺職位。

And then when you look at the productivity gap that you have generationally, and that's just in terms of experience. I don't want to disparage any generations in any way. But just the fact you're replacing someone with years of experience with someone that's newly experienced, I really think this is going to be an ongoing public policy issue that's going to have to be addressed. There's a lot of retraining with AI and digital jobs.

然後，當你審視代間的生產力差距時，你會發現這只是經驗上的差距。我絕無貶低任何世代的意思。但事實上，你用一個經驗尚淺的人取代一個擁有多年經驗的人，我認為這將是一個需要持續關注的公共政策議題。人工智慧和數位化工作需要大量的再培訓。

I think more needs to be done. I mean, we got this -- we got the R&D tax credit thing sitting out there. Not to get on political bandwagon here, but we need to do more to allow businesses to invest in productivity and drive productivity enhancements, and that's not going to replace workers. That's going to enable them to get the work done with less workers that are going to exist in the marketplace.

我認為還需要做更多。我的意思是，我們已經有了研發稅收抵免政策。我不想捲入政治紛爭，但我們需要採取更多措施，讓企業能夠投資生產力提升，推動生產力提高，而這並不會取代工人。這能讓企業用更少的勞動力完成工作。

So I think this is a systemic problem. I think it's a great opportunity for us because it really goes to the products and services that we offer for a small and medium-sized business owner. So that's kind of my personal view on it, and it continues to show up in the data that we look at.

所以我認為這是一個系統性問題。我認為這對我們來說是一個絕佳的機會，因為它關係到我們為中小企業主提供的產品和服務。這是我個人的看法，而且在我們分析的資料中也持續得到印證。

And we have our next question from Ramsey El-Assal with Barclays.

接下來，我們來聽聽巴克萊銀行的拉姆齊·埃爾-阿薩爾提出的問題。

How much did M&A contribute in the quarter? And if you could help us think through whether there's an inorganic contribution when it comes to your preliminary F '25 guidance, what that might be as well.

本季併購貢獻了多少？另外，如果您能幫我們分析一下，在您初步的2025財年業績指引中，是否存在非內生性成長貢獻，以及具體貢獻額是多少，那就太好了。

Yes. Ramsey, I mean, M&A, we didn't do any new M&A. The only M&A that we've done this year was the small Alterna acquisition that we did at the end of Q1. Obviously, it contributes something. It's a small number. It doesn't even round to 1%. So it's really not a big contributor at all.

是的。拉姆齊，我的意思是，關於併購，我們沒有進行任何新的併購。今年我們唯一完成的併購是第一季末對Alterna的小規模收購。顯然，它確實貢獻了一些收入，但金額很小，甚至不到1%。所以它實際上對業績貢獻微乎其微。

In the guide, we typically don't -- although we're always active in looking for opportunities, we're not going to put anything into a forecast until a deal is closed. So that does not assume any -- the preliminary guide does not assume any level of M&A next year.

通常情況下，我們不會在指南中——儘管我們一直在積極尋找機會，但在交易完成之前，我們不會將任何資訊納入預測。因此，這份初步指南並未對明年的併購活動做出任何假設。

Got it, got it. One quick follow-up for me. SECURE Act 2.0, what are you seeing there? Does that have the potential to emerge as kind of a tailwind that might help offset some of the ERTC headwind? Or is it too early to tell? Maybe give us an update on what you're seeing on SECURE Act 2.0.

明白了，明白了。我還有一個後續問題。關於《安全法案2.0》，您有什麼看法？它是否有可能成為一股順風，幫助抵消ERTC帶來的一些不利影響？還是現在下結論還太早？能否給我們更新一下您對《安全法案2.0》的看法？

Yes. I think, Ramsey, replacing ERTC is a very difficult thing to do, both in terms of the revenue nature of it and the profitability of it. And I would say that helping -- and basically, we're doing filing, as you know. We were doing tax filings, which is something that's core to our business. And there was a lot of hype around ERTC. So there was a lot of education going on by others that was helping that.

是的。拉姆齊，我認為，無論從收入性質或獲利能力來看，替換ERTC都是一件非常困難的事。而且，正如你所知，我們一直在做報稅工作，這是我們業務的核心。當時ERTC備受關注，所以其他方面也做了很多宣傳教育工作。

What I see in secured -- the SECURE Act is I think it's a great thing. I mean, our retirement business had a solid quarter and it's had solid year-to-date. And that continues to be a strong growth driver.

我認為《安全退休法案》（SECURE Act）是一項非常棒的措施。我的意思是，我們的退休業務上一季度表現穩健，年初至今也一直保持良好勢頭。而且，它仍然是強勁的成長動力。

I think you've still got to talk to business owners and educate them on it. It's still a sales process. We've had states that have made it mandatory. Those kind of come and go in the area.

我認為你仍然需要與企業主溝通，向他們普及相關知識。這仍然是一個銷售過程。有些州已經強制推行這項政策，但這些政策在這個地區來來去去。

The other thing on the SECURE Act 2.0, which we've been pushing on, is there is a little bit of a loophole that kind of disadvantages businesses with under 10 employees. I won't get into the nuances of it. And there's pretty bipartisan support in both the House and Senate to try to close that loophole, and we keep pushing for that because I do think that would particularly help in our micro segment, really accelerate some adoption there. But right now, that will pull us. It's still there.

關於我們一直在推動的《安全法案2.0》，還有一點要注意，那就是它有一個漏洞，對員工人數少於10人的企業來說有點不利。我不想贅述其中的細節。目前，眾議院和參議院都得到了兩黨的廣泛支持，希望堵住這個漏洞，我們也一直在努力推動，因為我認為這將特別有助於我們所在的微型企業群體，真正加速他們的採用。但就目前而言，這個漏洞仍然會拖累我們。

And we have our next question from Ashish Sabadra with RBC Capital Markets.

接下來，我們來聽聽來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的 Ashish Sabadra 的提問。

This is David Paige on for Ashish. I just had a question on your AI initiatives. Maybe can you provide some of the customer feedback, what -- I guess, what parts of your tools or your AI models that they're liking and maybe some of the benefits you're seeing internally in terms of greater sales teams, productivity, et cetera?

這裡是David Paige，我是Ashish的記者。我有個關於你們人工智慧專案的問題。您能否分享一些客戶回饋，例如他們喜歡你們工具或人工智慧模型的哪些部分？以及你們內部在提升銷售團隊效率、生產力等方面看到了哪些好處？

Yes. So David, what I would tell you at this point in time, a lot of our AI initiatives and investments have really been focused internally, both in terms of how we drive efficiency, how we drive better sales productivity, how we do better marketing and targeting, how we do better customer service and identify clients that are at risk, how we do better pricing and discounting, so that we're not getting too much away, but we're giving enough to get the right type of lifetime value that we want.

是的。所以大衛，目前我想告訴你的是，我們很多人工智慧計畫和投資都集中在內部，包括如何提高效率、如何提高銷售效率、如何更好地進行行銷和目標定位、如何更好地提供客戶服務並識別潛在客戶、如何更好地進行定價和折扣，這樣我們就不會過度投入，但也能提供足夠的投入客戶來獲得我們想要的那種終身價值。

Really, on the client side, the Retention Insights has been a very popular product with our larger customers in terms of getting insights to what they're doing. And we're just in the stages of really rolling out our Visier product, which will give them basically 750 million data -- compensation data points that will allow our customers in real time to understand how competitive they are, if they're making a job offer what they could potentially do. And that's just in the early stages.

實際上，就客戶而言，「留存洞察」產品在我們的大客戶中非常受歡迎，因為它能幫助他們深入了解自身的營運狀況。我們目前正處於全面推廣「Visier」產品的階段，該產品將為他們提供約7.5億條數據——包括薪酬數據點，使我們的客戶能夠即時了解自身的競爭力，以及在發出招聘邀請時可能獲得的待遇。而這僅僅是早期階段。

What I believe is because of our vast data set, we're going to be able to provide a degree of insights and information when coupled with our HR advisers that I truly think is going to set us apart from any of the smaller regional players or a local CPA because we're just going to be able to give them the vast data set insights that we have.

我相信，由於我們擁有龐大的數據集，結合我們的人力資源顧問，我們將能夠提供一定程度的洞察力和信息，這真的讓我們與任何規模較小的區域性公司或當地註冊會計師事務所區分開來，因為我們能夠向他們提供我們擁有的龐大數據集的洞察力。

And so as I've mentioned, we just hired a new SVP whose full-time job is to do nothing, but pull all of the capabilities we have across the company and develop a robust strategy of how we can drive the most out of AI to drive more value for our customers and drive more operational efficiency into the company.

正如我剛才提到的，我們剛剛聘請了一位新的高級副總裁，他的全職工作是什麼都不做，而是整合公司所有資源，制定一個強有力的策略，以最大限度地發揮人工智慧的作用，為我們的客戶創造更多價值，並提高公司的營運效率。

And we have our next question from Bryan Keane with Deutsche Bank.

接下來，我們來聽聽德意志銀行的布萊恩‧基恩提出的問題。

I just had a couple of clarifications. The miss on revenue in third quarter versus your guided expectations, it sounded like 1/3 of that was the ERTC decision to stop recognizing the revenues. Then I'm just trying to fill in the gap, and the other 2/3 of kind of versus your expectations on the miss, if I heard that correctly.

我有一些疑問需要澄清。關於第三季營收未達預期，聽起來有三分之一是因為ERTC決定停止確認該部分收入所造成的。我只是想弄清楚這部分缺口，至於剩餘的三分之二，如果我理解正確的話，是未達到預期部分的原因。

Yes, that's right. Bryan, so it's roughly -- there's 3 big drivers -- there are 3 drivers that we've talked about. They're all small, but there's 3 drivers that we've talked about. Certainly, the continued moderation of employment. We definitely saw lower checks per client, lower change in base relative to what our assumptions were. That started in Q2. We updated our forecast in Q2 for some of the trends that we are seeing. But I would say employment came in a little bit softer than even our revised assumptions in the forecast.

是的，沒錯。布萊恩，大致來說——有三個主要驅動因素——我們已經討論過這三個因素。它們雖然都不大，但確實是這三個因素。當然，就業持續放緩是其中一個重要因素。我們確實看到每位客戶的付款額下降了，基數變化也低於我們的預期。這種情況從第二季開始出現。我們在第二季根據觀察到的一些趨勢更新了預測。但我認為，實際就業情況甚至比我們修正後的預測還要疲軟。

And then John mentioned a little bit on the rate. We saw smaller client sizes maybe a little bit higher discounting than what we assumed. I mean, we're still getting really good price realization overall and strong growth in revenue per client. But I would say it was a little bit softer relative to what our forecast assumptions were.

然後約翰稍微提到了價格方面的問題。我們發現，對於規模較小的客戶，折扣力度可能比我們預期的要高一些。我的意思是，總體而言，我們的價格實現率仍然很高，而且每位客戶的收入也實現了強勁增長。但我認為，實際表現比我們之前的預測略低一些。

And then the bigger piece there was the ERTC that I mentioned. So when you look at those 3 things, they're roughly 1/3 a piece is how I would characterize it.

然後，更重要的部分就是我之前提到的ERTC。所以，如果你把這三件事放在一起看，它們大約佔了三分之一，我是這麼認為的。

No. That's helpful. And then when I jump from the third quarter revenue growth of 4% to the guided 5%, what accounts for the extra -- the strength of 100 basis points when I go into the fourth quarter?

不，這很有幫助。那麼，當我把第三季4%的營收成長預期提高到5%時，第四季多出的100個基點的成長動力來自哪裡呢？

Yes. So I'd say there's a few things to call out there, Bryan. One, the -- I mentioned the ERTC headwind being similar to Q3. It's a little bit less than it was in Q3, so that has a little bit of an impact. You have less of a headwind from ERTC in Q4. We're still getting strong client base, price realization, product penetration that carries into Q4.

是的。所以，布萊恩，我想說幾點需要說明。首先，我之前提到ERTC帶來的不利影響與第三季類似。雖然比第三季略有減弱，但這確實造成了一些影響。第四季ERTC帶來的不利影響較小。我們仍然擁有強大的客戶基礎、價格實現和產品滲透率，這些優勢將延續到第四季。

And then I would say on the PEO side, we came out of selling season in a stronger position from a worksite employee standpoint in medical enrollment. And so we're going to get the full quarter benefit of that in Q4 relative to where we were in Q3.

然後，就PEO（專業雇主組織）方面而言，從工作場所員工的醫療保險參保情況來看，我們在銷售季結束後處於更有利的地位。因此，與第三季相比，我們將在第四季獲得這方面帶來的完整收益。

So we got positive momentum, I would say, heading into Q4 in both businesses. And then we are getting a little bit of a lift in interest on funds in Q4. You've seen a little bit stronger growth there versus Q3. Some of that is the compare we did some repositioning of the portfolio. I think we had some realized losses that we took in Q4 to better position the portfolio going forward. And so you get a little bit of a tailwind in growth from that as well.

我認為，進入第四季度，兩項業務都取得了積極的成長勢頭。此外，第四季基金投資額也略有回升，較第三季成長更為強勁。部分原因是由於我們對投資組合進行了調整。我認為，我們在第四季度提列了一些已實現虧損，以便更好地調整投資組合，為未來的發展做好準備。因此，這也在一定程度上促進了成長。

And I'd say when you put those together, that's what accounts for a little bit stronger growth in Q4 relative to Q3.

我認為，把這些因素綜合起來，就能解釋為什麼第四季的成長比第三季略微強勁一些。

And we have our last question from Scott Wurtzel with Wolfe Research.

我們最後一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Scott Wurtzel。

Just one for me. Wanted to go back to the expense and margin side. I mean, the outperformance, I think, was notable despite the ERTC revenue going away.

就我個人而言，我想再談談費用和利潤率方面。我的意思是，儘管ERTC收入消失了，但我認為業績依然非常出色。

And I just wanted to clarify. And I know you talked about some of the efficiencies off of the investments over the last few years. But were there any specific actions on the expense side that you took during the quarter as the ERTC revenue sort of wound down?

我只是想澄清一下。我知道您談到了過去幾年投資帶來的一些效率提升。但是，隨著ERTC收入逐漸減少，您在本季度是否採取了任何具體的支出措施？

Yes. I wouldn't say anything specific to call out, Scott. I mean, obviously, we're always trying to look at expenses and making sure that we're not letting new costs into the business and really focusing. We saw the headwind come in, so I wouldn't say there's anything specific to call out other than good expense management.

是的。史考特，我沒什麼特別要指出的。我的意思是，很顯然，我們一直在努力控制開支，確保不會增加新的成本，並且非常注重成本控制。我們已經看到了不利因素，所以除了良好的成本管理之外，我覺得沒有什麼特別需要特別指出的。

And there -- some of that margin expansion that you saw in the quarter is being driven by interest rates. But even when you exclude that, we saw good margin expansion during the quarter.

而且，本季利潤率的擴張部分是由利率上漲所推動的。但即使排除利率因素，我們仍然看到了本季良好的利潤率成長。

Yes. I don't want to shortchange the tremendous job that each and every employee does in the company in terms of managing expenses. And we have it built into our DNA when we say, "Hey, we're seeing signs. It's time to go."

是的。我不想低估公司每位員工在費用管理上所做的巨大貢獻。而且，我們公司一直以來都有這樣的理念：一旦發現問題，就果斷行動。

People know what to do, and they do it. Because, again, as Bob pointed out, some of that PEO and Insurance revenue is direct revenue pass-through. So when you look at our margins, you think some of that revenue, and you'll lose in the ERTC, I just want to commend how good a job we've done and, I think, have done historically as part of our just DNA as being the best operators.

人們知道該怎麼做，而且他們也確實這麼做了。因為，正如鮑伯所指出的那樣，部分專業雇主組織 (PEO) 和保險收入是直接轉嫁的收入。所以，當你查看我們的利潤率時，你會想到其中一部分收入，而這些收入會在員工留任稅收抵免 (ERTC) 中損失。我只想讚揚我們一直以來做得多麼出色，而且我認為，這源於我們作為最佳運營商的基因。

And so it's every little bit, every little thing matters. And so there's no one big thing. I would say that the insights that we're gaining and the opportunity for digitalization, the investment we've made in enabling our clients and their employees to engage our systems and the rate in which they're adopting that opportunity is tremendous.

所以，每一件小事都至關重要。因此，並沒有什麼特別重要的事。我認為，我們所獲得的洞察、數位化帶來的機會、我們為幫助客戶及其員工使用我們的系統所做的投資，以及他們接受這些機會的速度，都是巨大的。

And we've invested over the last several years into building out both our AI robotics capabilities and our global footprint. And I think all of those investments we've made over the last 3 years during the pandemic era when we had ERTC are going to serve us well as we move forward.

過去幾年，我們一直致力於提升人工智慧機器人技術能力並擴大全球商業版圖。我認為，在過去三年疫情期間，我們利用ERTC的所有投資，都將對我們未來的發展大有裨益。

So I just look at it and say, as we exit this era of the pandemic from a Paychex perspective, I think we're entering the new era of just fundamentally a better positioned company. I think we're a more positioned, trusted adviser to small businesses. We're delivering more value to our customers. They're rewarding that with retention and with better pricing in a market where there's a lot of cheaper alternatives out there. We're more digitally enabled in all aspects of our business than we've ever been. And I think we're more agile and focused and also more profitable, quite honestly.

所以，從Paychex的角度來看，隨著我們走出疫情時代，我認為我們正在進入一個全新的時代，公司從根本上來說已經佔據了更有利的地位。我認為我們現在是小型企業更值得信賴的顧問，能夠更好地為他們提供價值。客戶也以更高的客戶留存率和更優惠的價格來回報我們，尤其是在市場上充斥著眾多廉價替代品的情況下。我們在業務的各個方面都比以往任何時候都更加數位化。坦白說，我認為我們也更靈活、專注，而且獲利能力也更強了。

So hats off to the team for all the things we've done to get ourselves in this position that when the tide turned, we had leverage we could pull to make sure that we're delivering for our shareholders.

所以，我要向團隊致敬，感謝他們所做的一切，使我們處於目前的局面，當情況逆轉時，我們擁有可以利用的籌碼，以確保我們為股東創造價值。

Is that it, Mike?

就這樣嗎，麥克？

And that does conclude our Q&A session for today.

今天的問答環節到此結束。

Okay. Well, listen, everyone, at this point, we'll close the call. If you're interested in a replay of the webcast of the conference call, it will be archived for approximately 90 days.

好的。各位，今天通話到此結束。如果您對本次電話會議的網路直播回放感興趣，回放將存檔約90天。

And I want to thank you for your interest in Paychex, and hope all of you have a great day. Thank you.

感謝您對Paychex的關注，祝您今天一切順利。謝謝。

This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以斷開連線了。